EMBERIZA 183 



rootlets and pliant twigs, lined with down and occasionally a few 

 hairs. The eggs are four or five in number, pale bluish-green 

 sparingly spotted and sometimes zoned with reddish-brown of two 

 shades. They average O72 x 0-54. 



Subfamily II. EMBEEIZIN^. 



In the Buntings the bill is acutely conical, with the edges of the 

 upper mandible sinuated, a bony knob on the palate which fits into 

 a concavity of the lower mandible ; the edges of the two mandibles 

 not in contact throughout, a gap being left about midway between 

 the gape and the tip of the bill ; the upper mandible is also 

 generally smaller and narrower than the lower ; the culmen is 

 nearly straight. 



The Emberizince, moult in autumn and become brighter in spring 

 owing to the worn tips of the feathers falling off. The males are 

 usually brighter than the females. The young resemble the latter 

 very closely until after their first moult, when the males gradually 

 assume their adult plumage. Like the Fringillince, they feed on 

 seeds and insects. 



The Buntings range over Europe, Asia, Africa, and North and 

 South America, but are not found in Australasia. Fourteen species 

 are distributed over the Ethiopian Eegion and five occur in South 

 Africa. 



Key to the Genera. 



a. Three or four outer tail-feathers with broad tips 



or patches of white Emberiza, p. 183. 



l>. Outer tail-feathers without white tips or markings 



excepting the outer edge of the outermost Fringillaria, p. 187. 



Genus I. EMBERIZA. 



Type. 



Emberiza, Brisson, Orn. iii, p. 257 (1760) E. citrinella. 



Bill hard, conical and short ; the upper mandible not wider than 

 the lower, the edges of both inflected, and those of the latter 

 sinuated; the palate with a projecting bony knob. Nostrils oval, 

 basal and situated near the culmen, partly hidden by small feathers. 

 Gape angular. Wings moderate ; the first primary attenuated and 



